


A Reason to Fight

by ScribblesInTheMargins



Series: Alex's Pliroy Week 2019 [5]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Breakups, Drug Mentions, M/M, Past Relationship(s), excessive social media, past JJ&Isabella, past Yuri&female OC, scandals, will tag this better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-12 14:00:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18012272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribblesInTheMargins/pseuds/ScribblesInTheMargins
Summary: Teenage rebellion turns to having to grow up too fast as Russia's #1 skater falls not only in rankings but in image.Can his reputation be salvaged? Can his life be salvaged?One thing Yuri doesn't know how to do is quit, especially when he has something worth fighting for.





	1. I'm a Survivor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next 3 tags
> 
> Social Media  
> Royalty  
> Retirement
> 
> are all in one fic :) so 3 chapters

Cause I'm a Survivor

 

Sitting in his apartment in Montreal while his life fell apart, JJ scrolled through his phone desperately trying to find a distraction.  Sometimes, when things were really bad, they seemed less bad if you knew someone else was going through worse.

 

He was alone, no one else in his apartment -- Isabella had left.  The place was so empty now that it even had an echo, so he stayed under a blanket on the couch at 2 AM distracting himself from his own life with the cluster fuck happening halfway around the world.

 

Yuri Plisetsky was a well-known dumpster fire.  Sure, he'd pulled it together for the 2015 GP season.  He crashed at Russian nationals -- just, no had he gotten injured, or sick, or anything like that, it would have been understandable.  He hadn't though. He had just skated like a robot or the walking dead -- his fourth-place finish in nationals hadn't even gotten a reaction.  

 

He'd pulled it together for Europeans, but for World's he hadn't been on the team.  There was some bullshit excuse about growth spurts and 'on medical advice'. JJ didn't believe it for a second.  He had thought Yuri was different, but it seemed he was just another prodigy to burn out like Icarus tumbling into the ocean after getting too close to the sun.

 

Now though, this was a year later, almost the 2018 Olympics and the Russian trainwreck was at it again.  Over the summer, it had seemed as if everything was fine. Shockingly he seemed to have pulled his life together, complete with a pretty girlfriend - news that shocked everyone who actually knew him of course.   He'd finished the season well, but now the seventeen-year-old was exploding just before the GP.

 

JJ sighed as he scrolled through the news.  Arrested. He had never thought Yuri would actually get arrested.  A bar fight. That was stupid. As he read further though, his eyes widened and he understood.  Yuri was seventeen, fighting your ex's new boyfriend wasn't the biggest surprise. It was stupid -- but not really a surprise.

 

Maybe it let JJ feel a little better about his life.  He wasn't getting arrested in some shitty bar in Russia.

 

Isabella had a new boyfriend.  The man was a lawyer -- they had actually met him at one of the charities JJ did work for.  The thing that sucked was that guy was great. Successful, stable, not an emotional mess involved in a professional sport that hauled him all over the world … no, when he saw the engagement announcement of Isabella come through his social media feed, he tried to

 

It was 2 AM in Montreal, but he was able to live stream Yuri being released.  The paparazzi were there, of course, Yakov on one side and Lilia on the other, the woman whispering to Yuri.  Instead of the standard trying to hide your face, Yuri was walking straight ahead as if he were walking to the ice and not a car.  His eyes straight ahead, even with how bruised up he was, one side of his face all bloodied and bruised.

 

Even with all the shouted questions, Yuri didn't say anything, leaving the police station in silence.

 

The excitement apparently over for the night, JJ took his phone and walked back to his bed … then stopped.  He turned and walked to the guest room, pulling out the bide a bed in there. Maybe he'd be able to sleep here.  Maybe he should move. He managed to fall asleep -- even as the sun was rising. His life was a mess.

 

* * *

 

 

Over the next two weeks, Yuri was torn apart on social media -- enough that the breakup damage of the great Isabella and Jean-Jacques split barely made any waves.  In a way, JJ was thankful for that. He didn't want the attention -- not right now and not for this.

 

If JJ had thought things had been bad on social media for Yuri, it was nothing compared to what happened a month later.  Evidently the Ex had gotten her hands on some personal papers and sold copies of them. When the autopsy report on Yuri's mother was published by a shitty tabloid, it felt as if the entire skating internet took a pause, freezing in place to wait for the response from Yuri.  There had been rumors for years. To see in black and white that the woman had died of an overdose -- that had been a shock. It had always been one of the rumors.

 

Yuri's only response was to lock everything of his down except for one line of text on all his media.

 

**_you know I'm not gon' dis you on the internet_ **

**_'Cause my momma taught me better than that!_ **

 

As far as JJ could tell that was the last thing the ex did to Yuri directly -- the rest of the vitriol coming from others.  

 

No matter what was thrown at Yuri, there wasn't a response, not just from him, but from his PR firm as well.  Whether that was a good move or a bad one was yet to be seen.

 

* * *

 

Once the GP series started, JJ was feeling better.  He was on 'speaking' terms with Isabella. He knew he wasn't getting invited to the wedding, not that he wanted to.  However, they could be at the same charity fundraiser without worry of anything press worthy happening.

 

2017 seemed to be a bad repeat of 2015.  Two years later, Yuri Plisetsky was once again scheduled to skate at Skate Canada -- he was the third skater for the Russian team, a far cry from his former first place.

 

Before the first practice, JJ walked into the locker room, greeting everyone just as loudly as always.  This was one of his most common rinks, he knew so many people -- and of course most of the competition.

 

Unsurprisingly, Yuri was sitting by himself in the corner of the locker room, his back up against the wall as he looked down at his phone, the smile though, that was surprising.  

 

"Hey, Princess!"

 

Yuri's eyes flicked up, fast as frowned at JJ, "Just -- not today Leroy, please?"  Every word was terse and clipped as always.

 

JJ pulled up short, Yuri had said please.  Yuri never said please. There hadn't been an insult.  There had been no yelling. There was nothing vicious and for a moment, he didn't know how to react.

 

JJ just stood there silent as Yuri walked past him, not saying a word.  In the past two years, several things had changed. While he was still taller than Yuri, it was now a very very close call, and as Yuri walked by on his skate guards, JJ had to look up, "Yeah no problem.  Good luck."

 

There was not a single rash word from Yuri.  Every time he was near any press, Yakov was right at his side and not a single word came from Yuri.  He was required to go to the press conferences. There wasn't a single rule that said his coach couldn't act as a translator -- even if everyone knew Yuri didn't need one and Yuri spoke English better than Yakov.

 

That night, JJ couldn't sleep, working off some of this energy would be the best.  He threw on sweatpants and a T-shirt to go down to the hotel gym. Even if it was normally closed, they kept it open when events like this were happening.  Too many people needed to warm up early for them to not just leave it locked to the room keys 24/7.

 

What he didn't expect when he walked in was to see Yuri there.  Intense didn't even begin to describe the Russian. He had his hands wrapped and was bouncing on a mat barefoot.  A large punching bag hung in the gym, it was probably the least used piece of equipment here. Hotels tended to have ellipticals and such not things like that.

 

Yuri's hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, the long locks sweaty and still falling into his face causing him to which his head fast every once in a while to get the sweat-soaked back behind his head.  He had earbuds in, stark white against his pale skin and he clearly didn't know that JJ had walked in. Anger and frustration rolled off the younger man in waves as he punched harder, not letting his legs get involved -- he needed those for the free skate.  If he fucked up his hands a little, he'd be fine.

 

Finally, Yuri was holding onto the bag, catching his breath and his head moved enough so he saw JJ standing there.  Those blue-green eyes narrowed as he pulled the earbuds out, letting them just dangle from the collar of his shirt.  "What are you doing here."

 

"I couldn't sleep … Yuri."  No princess, no kitten, no teasing.  

 

"Sleep is overrated."  His eyes dropped down to the floor for a second, "I'm going to beat you."

 

"No, you're not.  But you're going to try and you're going to get a silver."  It wasn't cocky when he said it. JJ already had a good lead and he saw what Yuri could do -- yes, it was better than last year, but it wasn't up to when he'd been in top form two years ago.  

 

Yuri dropped his eyes.  "Maybe I'll get lucky for once in my life."

 

"Are you -- okay?"  How did you even ask that of someone that you had watched their life fall apart over social media?  He had even seen the dick pics. It took a lot to come back from that.

 

"Yeah.  I'm … " No, that was a lie.  "Fuck. No. I have to be though, I don't have the … fuck, I don't know the word.  I can't be less than my best anymore. I have responsibilities. I need to pull this shit together."    He closed his eyes for a moment, "I'm sorry."

 

"For what?"  

 

"All the shit I said to you two years ago.  You didn't deserve it. Your ex didn't deserve it.  I was a shit brat."

 

"You were fifteen and under a lot of stress, we could have been … less horrible to you, too."  JJ tilted his head as he looked at Yuri, "Did you bring water?" He reached into his bag to pull out two bottles.

 

"Of course not, I got into an argument on the phone, got pissed off, and came down here without thinking."  It was the truth and he took the offered water with a whispered thank you.

 

"With your choreographer?"  He'd noticed she wasn't here.  Normally, Yuri had both his coach and choreographer with him.

 

"No, my ex."  He sighed at that looking up at the ceiling, "I can't tell anyone what about."

 

"That's OK.  Sorry -- that has to suck.  I mean … when I had the stuff with Izzy going on, my dad would take my phone so … so I wasn't distracted."

 

"Women.  I should have known better than to make that mistake, huh?"  He smiled at JJ though as he pulled out his phone, quickly flicking to social media and pulling up JJ's accounts.  He hit follow on them, shrugging a little.

 

"You with a girl was not exactly expected."  JJ let himself smile.

 

"Yeah -- I know.  But yeah … she used to be nice."  He smiled a little as the follows were all returned.  "Not making that mistake again though."

 

"You feeling better?"  If JJ was an asshole, he could have tried to get in Yuri's head and make it harder for him.  He wasn't though, he'd win, but on his own merits.

 

"Yeah.  I just -- It's frustrating.  I want to be home, not here."  Yuri's eyes glanced down at his social media accounts.  "I'll probably start posting again after the Olympics, I don't know.  I just use them as messengers. No international fees and all that."

 

"You should get some rest."  JJ smiled at Yuri, as he said the man's name again, just Yuri, not kitten, not princess, nothing except the man's name.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, when JJ stood on the top of the podium again, the look from the silver spot wasn't one of shock, but a smile and a handshake.  For the first time in a long time, that night, social media had a nice story about Yuri Plisetsky. The image of him congratulating JJ was the first in a shift of media for the young man.


	2. Royal Secrets

JJ was team captain of the Canadian team so was kept so busy in the lead up to the Olympics.  Ever since Skate Canada, he'd taken to messaging Yuri once in a while. Sometime happy things, sometimes sad things, one time he had ended up getting the Russian to tell him which lamp to buy because maybe JJ was a little lost about his new apartment without Isabella there.

 

The new apartment was smaller, but he was training so much that it didn't' really matter.  It felt more like him. Skating memorabilia and all the sports things that Isabella had said didn't belong 'in the main part of the apartment' were now on full display.

 

Now that he was in South Korea though, all he wanted to do was send a message to Yuri, trying to figure out how to see him in person.  This time it was the huge Habs banner over his bed in the Canadian area of the village. 

 

> [Huge Montreal Canadiens banner tacked up over a bed which had a red and white Canadian flag themed blanket over it]
> 
>  
> 
> << Is this too much?
> 
>  
> 
> >> Ahh, how sweet, you hid the timbits and all your stuffed moose … mooses?  What's the plural of moose?
> 
>  
> 
> << Just moose :)
> 
>  
> 
> >> Stupid language
> 
>  
> 
> << Yeah yeah. You keep saying that.  How are you settling in over in the Russian dorms?
> 
>  
> 
> >> Not the Russian dorms.  We can not call them the Russian dorms.  We can not put up Russian flags. We have strict rules as Olympic athletes of Russia.  This is so stupid.
> 
>  
> 
> << At least you get to compete?
> 
>  
> 
> >> I've already peed in a cup.  Seriously. Has any other team been drug tested already?"
> 
>  
> 
> << Sorry about that.

 

JJ paused, should he invite Yuri over?  The Canadians were having a party, and it wasn't as if underage drinking was something people cared about in the Olympic village, but Yuri wasn't a Canadian either.  Then again, JJ didn't really want to do the whole party thing. He's already faced too many questions from people about his ex-wife. Being twenty-one and already divorced was … difficult in some ways.  In other ways, it led to a lot of women hitting on him, and he didn't like that either.

 

> << There's a party here tonight
> 
>  
> 
> >> I'm in the not Russia Russian dorms, I have to step over dead bodies to get anywhere.  If I knew you were looking for a party, I'd have told you to come over.
> 
>  
> 
> << I kinda don't want to … you know the whole drinking thing and dealing with people.

 

Sad as it was to admit, that was what he and Yuri had been bonding over -- neither of them wanted to people.

 

> >> Do you need a rescue?
> 
>  
> 
> << Company while I hide?
> 
>  
> 
> >> I'll bring movies and earplugs.

 

* * *

 

Maybe there had been a few strange looks when a grumpy blond Russian showed up at the Canadian house with a laptop and a DVD in his hand, when he held it up to show JJ, there was a smirk, "I stole this from Yakov.  It's Victor's first ice program. He falls on his ass and cries in the first half."

 

Instantly, silence fell as people looked at the DVD in his hand, "Perfect."  JJ was the one right there though, taking Yuri's laptop bag as he led the way back to his room, "And I have the shitty horror movies."

 

"Perfect.  They were lighting vodka on fire when I left.  I don't want to get mixed up in that at all." Yuri looked around at the Canadians that still looked stunned.  "I'm going to assume less potential arson will happen here." 

 

Without more explanation, they both ended up in JJ's room -- and being a team captain had the benefit of your own room.  Seeing the skating legend Victor Nikiforov fall on his ass after a single loop and get up with tears in his eyes while dressed as a poodle, that was priceless.

 

This wasn't the first horror movie they'd watched 'together' but it was the first on the same continent, streaming and skyping wasn't exactly the same.  This was more fun. This was a movie that JJ knew by heart, and he used that exactly to his advantage. It had to be past midnight. Tomorrow was a practice day, then the day after was the short program for the team skate.  Yuri had short for Russian, JJ had long for Canada, so they weren't exactly competing against each other yet. Laying back on the bed together the laptop had ended up propped up on JJ's legs so they could both see it, and maybe it was a little closer than would be typical for friends, which made it perfect.  

 

Just as JJ knew the haunted doll was going to appear in a flash of lightning, he tapped Yuri's shoulder and the man jumped, "You asshole!"  Instantly, he was being slammed with his own pillow as a stream of Russian swear words were flung at him, and no, Yuri did not seem to care who heard anything.

 

The door slammed open and three Canadians (mostly sober) were there, staring as JJ was laughing, the laptop was on the floor, and Yuri appeared to be trying to kill JJ with a pillow while straddling the man's waist and pinning him to the bed.  "Fuck you, you shit head!"

 

Carefully, one of the guys pulled Yuri away, the blond still out of breath and not really fighting the superior numbers of the Canadians, he did try to explain himself.  "That asshole! He grabbed my shoulder the second that evil fucking doll appeared on the screen and fuck him!" The explanation, while not the clearest was accentuated with wild gestures ending in Yuri pointing at JJ as accusingly as he could.

 

"That was so funny.  You should have seen you jump!"  JJ was still laughing so the three other guys seemed to decide things were fine and left, closing the door behind them.

 

"And this is how rumors that I'm sleeping with people start, you know that right?"  Even for as grumpy as he sounded, Yuri climbed back into bed. He liked being warm, and JJ was good at one thing even more than he was at talking -- and that was generating body heat.

 

"You're awake."  JJ let his lips move into a smirk at that.

 

"Yeah -- you know what I mean.  Not that type of sleeping." With a sigh, Yuri curled into him though, bracing with an elbow to look down at the man.  He'd heard all the details about what had happened with Isabella. He knew JJ's dirty laundry, but still, JJ did not know his.

 

"It's fine.  We can be friends."  JJ's eyes shifted away from Yuri for a moment, maybe it was nothing or maybe it was a telling gesture.

 

It wasn't as if people could hate him more than they already did.  What could JJ do to him, expose his shitty taste in movies? He'd guarded his real secrets close, not sharing those.  Instead of saying anything, Yuri leaned down, letting his lips brush over JJ's for just a moment as he prayed he hadn't been reading everything wrong for the past few months.

 

Yuri heard the door start to open and jumped back, eyes wide.  "I should get back." He slaps the laptop closed and shoved it into the bag as he quickly detangles himself from JJ as he rushed out of the Canadian house to quickly walk to the not Russian but actually Russian house.  By the time he was in his own bed, his phone had a few messages from JJ.

 

> >> I'm sorry.
> 
> >> Are you OK?
> 
> >> I didn't mean to … rush you?
> 
> >> If I don't hear from you, I'm going after you.

 

Yuri paused at that, frowning as he looked at his phone.  He was OK, as OK as he ever was these days. The thing he didn't know was if he wanted JJ to come there.  Part of him really did. He didn't have his own room though. He glanced across the room, there hadn't been any sign of his roommate all day, and honestly, it was likely the guy was with his girlfriend.  That was the only good part of being roomed with one of the men from an ice dance team.

 

Maybe it was selfish, he did it anyway.  Instead of replying, Yuri sat in the bed, watching the door.  If JJ came to him, maybe it was worth a risk.

 

As Yuri sat there, looking at the door and waiting to see what happened, he started to think JJ wasn't going to show up.  Then he heard instructions being given in English, and Yuri let his lips slip into a smile. He fought it down though, even if JJ came, it didn't mean that he actually liked Yuri in that way.  Maybe this was just JJ making sure he was all right and to explain they were just friends. He wasn't sure.

 

As the door opened, Yuri looked up, and this time he couldn't hide the smile at how JJ looked, "I'm sorry I worried you?"

 

JJ was at his side, wrapping an arm around him as he whispered, "You -- you're OK?"

 

Nodding, Yuri sighed, "As good as I can be?  I kissed you." He couldn't deal with it being left unsaid.

 

"You did."  JJ pulled him in tighter, then moved enough to be able to brush his lips against Yuri's.  It was a soft kiss before he pulled back, "Didn't want you to think I didn't like it, baby."

 

From the kiss, Yuri's eyes were lighting up, the smile that had been gone from him so long back, but it faltered at the word 'baby'.  "I -- haven't been honest with you."

 

"I know it's not easy, baby …"

 

"No, JJ. please, anything but baby.  OK?" He reached out, taking a hold of the man's hand as he pressed his forehead against the other man's shoulder.  "I -- please please please don't make me regret trusting you?"

 

"I promise.  I won't … you saw how things went when Isabella and I broke up, I didn't do anything …"  He hadn't actually seen Yuri do much bad to his ex either. Who would have thought the Russian would have taken the high road.

 

Yuri moved a little, pulling out his phone as he paused before opening it up, then he went into an app, and JJ gasped.  He'd known people to use apps like that to keep track of their apartments and dogs and such while they were gone, but no, Yuri was using it for its intended purpose.  The video feed as soon as it showed was on a crib, close enough that the black and white night vision image of a little infant sleeping could be seen. 

 

The grip was bare, following all the safety recommendations with the little baby clothed in a wearable blanket of some sort.  "I spend a lot of time … watching her, it's hard to be here and I -- I was scared to tell you about her."

 

JJ let his fingers reach out, touching the screen as he whispered, "Who's watching the little princess?"

 

"Lilia.  I -- I have temporary custody."

 

"Do you have pictures?"  JJ knew of course he did.  No man that actually looked at his child like that didn't have as many pictures as he could have.

 

Nodding, Yuri moved to a folder, pulling out picture after picture.

 

"How old is she?"

 

"Four months."  He showed JJ the pictures.  The first being at the hospital and she was so little.  She had a little tube strapped to her face for oxygen in the first picture.  She was a little bigger for a picture where Lilia was holding her. Another picture had Yakov holding the little girl.  There were so many pictures clearly taken by Yuri, close-ups of her in his arms and a few pictures of Yuri holding her that other people had taken.

 

"She's beautiful.  What's her name?"

 

"Lily … Lily Yuryevna Plisetskaya.  Lilya for short, or Liyosha .. Malishka for baby, and Printsessa for Princess .. that's the one Lilia uses all the time.  I named her after her." Yuri flushed a little, "That was a long answer."

 

"It was a beautiful answer.  She looks so much like you." It was amazing, even at such a young age, her eyes were lighter than Yuri's, the baby having blue eyes and bouncing curls.   The blond hair was almost always clipped back in some way, the curls already a little unruly.

 

"Only the people at my rink know.  We've been keeping her a secret to protect her."

 

"Thank you for trusting me."

 

"Do you … still want to …"  He didn't say 'date me' but …

 

JJ leaned in to kiss him again, "Just put the baby monitor on your phone again, I know you'll be happier seeing she's fine."  He kissed him again though, kissing Yuri and holding him tight in bed as they kissed, the only light from the live stream of the baby monitor on Yuri's phone.

 

A few hours later they both woke up, the fussing on the screen being answered with soft singing as they watched Lilia walk into the room, picking up the baby and sitting just barely close enough to the monitor to been seen and feeding the little girl a bottle.  JJ knew he fell asleep quicker than Yuri, but he knew the man was relaxed as well. The little princess was safe and well cared for, even if Yuri was so far away right now.

 

* * *

 

It was two months later when JJ was finally able to visit Saint Petersburg.  He'd missed Yuri's birthday, and Yuri had skipped worlds -- but the man had gotten a bronze at the Olympics as well as his part of the Russian/Not Russian team gold.  JJ had won an individual gold and a team silver, he knew that what Yuri had wanted from the Olympics was to go home.

 

Now, he was getting out of a cab, it had been much too late at night for JJ to have Yuri meet him at the airport, not with the princess at home.  Before JJ could knock, the door opened and Yuri was gesturing for quiet, his arms holding the most precious thing in the man's world. The little girl was in his arms, drinking from a bottle.  She was bigger now, almost seven months old. 

 

JJ knew exactly what she looked like, but to see her in person still stopped him as he left his bags just stay by the door.  "She's beautiful."

 

"Do you want to hold her."

 

Carefully, JJ held his arms out, taking the sleepy child and her bottle from Yuri's arms.  He couldn't help smiling though as he saw what was written across th little girl's pajamas, 'Daddy's Little Princess',  "Yeah, she's beautiful. Only fitting the King would get to hold the Princess eventually …"

 

Yuri shook his head, "Come on, Lilia and Yakov are in Moscow so we have the house to ourselves, so I can completely let the King sleep on the couch after that bad play on words … well, unless that makes me the Queen?"

 

"Do you want me to call you Queen?"  

 

"No -- I like when you call me beautiful."  With a soft kiss, he helped JJ move everything up to his room.  The little room next to his converted to a nursery. For a moment, Yuri just stood there, watching as JJ helped Lily to walk up the steps -- even though stairs were so far beyond her.  He watched as she stumbled up the stairs, JJ's hands never leaving her. He'd forgotten about JJ's younger siblings and all the practice he must have had with that. The sight only made him love the man more.


	3. Family

The world championships were coming up soon, and Yuri had made the Russian team this year.  After his performance last year at the Olympics, it wasn't a surprise. However, he hadn't been included on the team last year, but the team had mostly been determined before the Olympics were over.  He'd done better all year. With JJ visiting as much as he could, and an incredible two weeks in Saint Petersburg after the Rostelecom with JJ -- Yuri was happy. He had a boyfriend, and his boyfriend was amazing.  Lilia had approved almost from the beginning. Yakov had been harder to win over. When Yakov had woken up at 5 AM over the summer when Lily had been unable to sleep from teething only to find JJ pacing through the living room to help the little girl be comfortable so Lilia and Yuri could both get some sleep -- maybe that had been what had gotten the man to approve.

 

It didn't change the fact that Europeans had just ended.  Four Continents was next, but that was JJ's hurdle. What Yuri was looking forward to was worlds.  They were both going, and Lilia had agreed that Yuri's idea of a romantic vacation after worlds wasn't a bad idea -- and she was more than willing to babysit an extra week.  It was almost their one year anniversary, and Yuri wanted to do something nice -- especially since it seemed that JJ was always the one being nice. 

 

Yakov's office had been converted into a nursery.  Yuri used it more than the man did now, a playpen, a TV with children's videos, a big container of toys -- never before had Yakov's office looked like this.  Never before had his top skater had a baby he was responsible for though -- at least not without a wife or girlfriend at home to take care of the child.

 

Yuri was sitting on the floor, taking a break from skating and reading to Lily, the little girl in his lap when his phone beeped with a notification.  He ignored it for a moment, knowing there wasn't a lot more in the story of a raven and a cunning fox. 

 

_ "Again!" _

 

_ "No.  Babulya will be here in a minute to watch you.  Maybe you can get her to read to you. _ "  He leaned down to kiss the little girl's head, smiling.  She was a handful, but she was his, so no one was surprised.

 

Yuri reached into his pocket to check the messages -- another two had caused his phone to vibrate.  He froze as he looked at his screen. "No…"

 

He wanted to scream for Lilia.  He couldn't, not with Lily here.  He couldn't scare the little girl.

 

" _ Papa _ ?"  She looked at him, dropping the stuffed dog she had picked up and running to her father's arms.  She knew something was wrong -- even as much as Yuri was trying to keep things together, he couldn't hide the tears that were running from his eyes.

 

When Lilia found him, he was clutching the little girl, his phone in his hand as he tried to read everything he could.  It wasn't 'confirmed' yet that it was JJ, but Yuri knew what the man's car looked like, and he knew that the 'Top Canadian Athlete' that had been transported to a trauma hospital via life flight … he called JJ's phone anywhere.  He didn't care what time it was in Canada. He called JJ's phone, hoping someone would answer it. 

 

Finally, he heard the phone pick up -- but by then Lilia had taken Lily for some fresh air and Yuri was pacing the office.  When he heard the female voice say hello, his heart dropped for a moment before he took a deep breath to ask, "Is this Jean's, mother?"  He'd never actually spoken to her. All he knew was that JJ's family was 'traditional' and Yuri very much knew that did not mean approving of someone like Yuri dating their son.

 

"Yes … "  She sighed, but her voice softened as she heard the fear over the phone.  "They said he's going to … be alright." It was clear she wasn't saying everything, but it was more than Yuri had hoped for.  "I'll … text you where we are."

 

"You'd let me come?"  Why else would she be sending him the address?  It had to be a sign.

 

"He'd want you to -- if you can."  She was well aware of all the things that kept Yuri in Russia -- well, all the things that kept him there that were not the fact that she and her husband had never made an effort to invite him.

 

"I'm grabbing a flight.  I'll … text …"

 

* * *

 

By that night, Yuri was on a flight to Canada.  Unlike his normal international flights, this wasn't going to be a chance to sleep.  Instead, he was thankful beyond all belief that Lilia had gifted him with two tickets because Lily was not being a good flyer on her first trip.  Even with the car seat that normally put her to sleep instantly, she was determined to be on Yuri. It was eighteen hours including the layover of travel hell.  Holding a toddler for that amount of time without being able to sleep meant that by the time he reached the hospital, he looked like hell and he knew it. He didn't have a hotel, so everything was hauled with him.  While he'd normally had traveled with little more than a skate bag -- he didn't have that option with the baby. Instead, he walked into the hospital lobby with two suitcases strapped together with the car seat tied to the suitcases.  His skate bag and a diaper bag were over his shoulder and a very conspicuous shape was in his other arm covered by a blanket because Yuri knew there would be press and he was not ready for Lily to be in the press -- not today, not like this.  

 

Of course, there were pictures taken, and people would comment on his long hair just thrown into a bun and the dark circles under his eyes -- and everyone knew he had a child in his arms.  There was too much about everything else that made that brutally clear, but he was quickly allowed into the hallway that had a security guard stationed at it to make sure the press stayed out.  

 

Room 21-356.  He'd had it memorized.  He had sent a message to Jean's phone saying the final plane was boarding and it was scheduled to land on time.  He hadn't thought things through fully. He'd been running around so much, trying to make sure he had everything he'd need for Lily, that other things had slipped his mind.  He knocked softly on the door, seeing Jean-Jacque Leroy written on the little whiteboard along with the name of the nurse on duty and the attending physician.

 

When he opened the door, awkwardly transferring things from one hand to his hip, he saw how dim and quiet the room was.  Thankful that Lily, somehow, had fallen asleep in his arms, he tried to move his stuff to as out of a way location in the crowded room as he could.  He felt the tension, but right now it wasn't JJ's parents he was looking at. He paused, looking at the form in the bed, paling even more as he saw how bad the man looked.

 

Then he heard Jean's mother gasp softly, "You brought her with?"

 

As JJ's father took Yuri's bags, both of them were looking at the young man, brutally aware that their son's boyfriend was still only eighteen.  As the blanket started to move, Yuri switched to Russian, whispering some soft words to the little girl as he pulled back the blanket to reveal the little girl who was rubbing her eyes with her little balled up fists.  She was dressed in pink tights and a pink and white dress, something easy to get to for diaper changes. Of course, it looked beautiful, Lilia did most of the clothes shopping. Yuri, however, had tried to make sure it would be easy as was possible on the plane.

 

"Mr. and Mrs. Leroy…"  He didn't know what else to call them.  He'd never been given permission to use their given names and honestly, he hadn't seen them in person since the Olympics last year.  "This is Lily." Then he switched to Russian as he explained something to the little girl.

 

Lily wasn't looking at Nathalie or Alain though, her eyes went straight to JJ, and her eyes widened as she started to whimper, the words she said were in Russian, but one wasn't Russian, not that 'Papa' was hard to figure out when she talked to Yuri, it was very clear what she thought of Jean when she reached out towards him, calling out "Dada!" It was the only word the girl knew that wasn't Russian.

 

Nathalie and Alain both froze and Yuri swallowed uncomfortably, but then when he saw JJ's eyes flicker a little bit, he hurried to the man's side, whispering, "Jean, we came as soon as we could."  He whispered words in Russian to Lily though, clearly cautions and referring to JJ as Dada. Maybe Yuri should have thought this through more, but JJ and Jean had both been too hard for her to say and when JJ had joked about being called Dada over New Years, Lily hadn't realized it was a joke, and JJ had loved it too much for either of them to tell her not to.

 

JJ was ignoring his parents for the moment, his Russian was still horrible, but it was enough to talk to the little girl.  " _ Dada got hurt but will be okay.  Don't worry, Princess. I love you." _

 

_ "We have to be careful with Dada, ok, Princess.  He was in an accident, but we're here now and it's going to be okay."  _  Softly, Yuri pressed his lips to Lily's head, but his eyes were on JJ.

 

Slowly, JJ reached a hand up to touch the little girl's blonde curls, a smile on his lips as he looked at her, " _ I missed you, baby."   _ Then he looked up at Yuri, the smile going a little sad as he added in English so Lily wouldn't understand, "We need to talk, beautiful."  

 

"You're supposed to be resting," Alain walked forward, looking from JJ to Yuri and knowing he couldn't separate them, not with how the little girl was reaching towards his son.  He could be stubborn and hurt his family, or he could do what was right. "Lily?" He reached forward, picking up the little girl and seeing how tired she was. Even though she had never seen him before, the girl just leaned her head on his shoulder.

 

Yuri looked up at Alain, shocked, but not stopping him from what he was doing.  He just nodded that Alain had her name right.

 

"I'm going to take her to the cafeteria and find her something to eat.  It's been a long trip and … the two of you need to talk." He smiled a little at Lily as she said something in Russian.  He didn't know what she was saying at all.

 

Yuri held onto JJ's hand as he saw both Alain and Nathalie walk off with Lily, the little girl looking safe and content in Alain's arms.

 

Yuri turned back to look at JJ as soon as they were alone.  "How bad is it?" His voice was soft as he just let his fingers stroke over JJ's hand.  

 

"It's bad … I have surgery tomorrow, and it's starting to all hurt because the pain meds are wearing off again."

 

"You're not alone, Jean.  Not ever again. I love you."  Yuri's voice was just a whisper. 

 

"I can't come back to skating from this."  JJ's eyes dropped down.

 

"I don't care, Jean.  I love you. I don't care about the skating.  I care about you. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere.  You're all I never knew I needed -- that we needed. Lily doesn't care if you're the best skater in the world, she cares about if she can fall asleep on your shoulder."

 

"I love you, both of you.  You both were all I could think of when they were cutting me from the car."

 

Yuri closed his eyes, leaning in to press JJ's hand to his forehead, "We're here now."

 

Everything could be figured out later.  Yuri wasn't leaving JJ again, they'd figure this out.  

 

By the time Alain and Nathalie got back, having fed Lily chicken nuggets from the kid's menu in the cafeteria and being mistaken for the child's grandparents, the two young men were sound asleep.  Yuri was contorted in the chair to keep holding onto JJ's better hand. 

  
With a soft sigh, Nathalie leaned into her husband.  The man was right. This -- they had to accept this, not just accept this, but cherish this.  This was what their son wanted, this was their son's family. Smiling softly at Lily, the woman whispered, "Lily?"  Then she pointed at herself,  _ "Mémé"  _ The French Canadian term for Grandmother hopefully easy enough for the little girl.  Then, still smiling, she pointed at her husband to call him,  _ " _ _ Pépé." _  Family was everything, and it was worth fighting for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with this -- I know I went against most of the normal things we're used to with Pliroy with this, but I hope you all like where it ended :)


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